Could Video Game QA Be the Next Field to Face Scrutiny for Work Conditions?

Could Video Game QA Be the Next Field to Face Scrutiny for Work Conditions?

Published on September 4, 2018

Like any massive undertaking of art, a single Triple-A video game is an artifact encapsulating the dozens of unique sectors of skilled, professional labor that went into its creation. So much of that labor is rarely seen or even conceived of by a vast number of gamers.

And that’s definitely the case for video game QA, or quality assurance, professionals. Most successfully immortalized by corny recruiting infomercials from the 2000’s that promised a chill life of getting to play video games with your bros, the field of video game QA is where the majority of testing and debugging occurs throughout the development cycle of a game.

Video game QA is most often talked about when studios and fans alike need someone to blame for video games that are shipped in a buggy state. On August 14, 2018, Twitter user @SimplyRagny started writing about her experiences as a veteran of the field in a thread that would eventually include 41 tweets. At over 7,000 likes and 3,400 retweets, her accounts include allegations of constant and targeted surveillance against employees, crowded and uncomfortable work conditions, abusive team leads and bosses, and strong coercion to come in while sick. That’s really the tip of the iceberg though, and you should read the thread for yourself to get the full picture.

If you've played any AAA video game ever, but especially in the past couple years, there are very good chances that part of the QA was done where I work: a place that treats their employees like they're worthless, disposable, and can be replaced at any time.

Responses to the thread have largely been filled with solidarity from members of the games press, developers, and players. Multiple people who have direct experience with the field responded, confirming the general, dreadful picture painted in the tweets. A tweet from user @MSFTSxDecline spoke to the trend of the devaluation of QA labor that has appeared in several accounts of QA work.

Video game QA personnel are, and have been, treated like trash. This is fact. A former AAA company NC Soft sought me out on their own. For a management position. For 10/hr. With no relocation. FOR MANAGING AN ENTIRE DEPT.

In the days following the publishing of the original thread, @SimplyRagny’s tweets started to describe the retaliatory efforts she believes her employer is taking against her and the grim atmosphere that now surrounds her at work.

It's pretty telling that everyone at work pretty much assumed I'd get fired when they read my thread. Everyone is too terrified to say anything.

For years, harsh environments for video game QA testers have been known to some degree. First-hand accounts have come from several Reddit AMA’s as well as scattered articles that have gotten QA workers to speak candidly. Like with many other types of workers in the video game industry, any hopes to get specific, damning information about the companies responsible for these unhealthy conditions are thwarted by the looming threat of NDA’s, or non-disclosure agreements, that workers are often forced to sign as a condition of employment.

For now though, there aren’t any organizations or mechanisms in place specifically to act as watchdogs or advocates against the abuses felt by QA professionals. There is hope to be found in the autonomous, local branches of Game Workers Unite, an organization that arose after this year’s GDC that “seeks to connect pro-union activists, exploited workers, and allies across disciplines, classes, and countries” popping up throughout the U.S. and UK. While these branches aren’t unions themselves, QA professionals and other game workers have the ability through the organizations to organize and build solidarity across skill sets within the industry.

But whatever the tactics end up being for workers in QA and other sectors of the industry that have faced marginalization — whether burgeoning unions will be confined to specific fields or stretch across disciplines — the game community will only benefit as more and more of their stories from behind closed doors get brought into the public eye.

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